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F
or Le Lan Phuong, a 36 year old
office worker living in Hanoi,
charity is an annual activity. Each
year, she and a group of around
10 people get together to donate their
money. Just three weeks ago they vis-
ited the Ha Cau orphanage in Ha Dong
ward. “It was a chance to help unlucky
children, which makes me feel peace in
my mind and heart. It is also a chance
to teach our children to be kindhearted
and caring,” Phuong says.
Her group donated VND7 million
to the orphanage. They usually give to
orphanages, pediatric departments, or
sometimes an individual who is in ex-
treme need. They met on a website for
young mothers which has introduced
hundreds of people leading to the for-
mation of tens of private groups.
Minh Phuong, a 30 year old trans-
portation engineer, is another member
of the group. Right after coming back
from Ha Cau orphanage, she raised over
VND10 million from her colleagues to
help children in the remote mountain-
ous town of Mu Cang Chai, Lao Cai
province. “I also follow a charity group
on Facebook. After finding a case to
help, we donate used cloths and money
to buy food, books or sometimes blan-
kets. In the mountainous areas, the
winter weather is really harsh. I can’t
stand seeing the children there in torn
and thin cloths and going to school
barefoot,” Phuong says.
28 year old engineer, Trung Hieu
has a different way of helping - he calls
for his friends’ helping hands to build
houses for poor people in his home
town near Haiphong. “We keep in touch
mostly via Facebook as each participant
works in a different place,” he says.
The number of groups doing spon-
taneous charity work such as this has
increased exponentially of late. The
spotlight group is another example.
Its members collect unused food from
restaurants for a Hoa Binh orphanage
where hundreds of children benefit.
The trigger
Trung Hieu says that while the
local authority in his town raise their
own funds for the poor, the money
is not enough to reach every single
person who needs help. “Many are in
urgent need and cannot wait for their
turn to be helped by the government,”
Hieu says,.
Thu Ngan, a 23 year old girl living
in Ho Chi Minh City, is an active char-
ity worker. Her inspiration came from
traveling, when she saw many people
who needed assis-
tance. Le Lan Phuong
meanwhile was in-
spired by her friends:
“Before, when I just
joined my employer in
charity work, I did it
maybe once or twice
a year. Sometimes
they do not inform us
about specific cases.
It was more like being obligated than
true volunteering. After joining a social
network however, I have found that
they share information about any un-
lucky people who are in need, so we
feel willing to help them.”
Phuong has also seen many flaws
in large scale charity programs and
does not believe in their effectiveness:
“In recent years on the media I’ve read
so many sad cases, such as that of the
clothes packages sent for the flooded
Central Vietnam which became rags in
garages. Anothe case was in Ben Tre
province where the donated money for
a mother and daughter infected with
HIV was siphoned by local governmen-
tal officials. In contrast, on a smaller,
more hands-on scale, I be sure exactly
where the money goes.”
Vietnamese people tend to be will-
ing to give and sadly there are those
who take advantage of this. On Van
Mieu and Quoc Tu Giam street is a 30
year old man with a burnt leg. He begs
for money and sometimes faints and
falls. After 4pm, he heads home and
changes his clothes – he transforms
into wealthy man. He has a house and
motorbike and an income as high as
VND1-3 million per day.
There have been other cases of
people fabricate pitiful stories on social
websites to dupe people into helping.
One such case is that of Dong Pham
Nguyen, who has now been arrested.
He pretended to be a company director
who had been an abandoned child. He
said he raised handicapped children,
but suffered brain tumors. Through his
story he managed to scam more than
VND200 million.
But that is not the whole picture.
Anh Tho, a teacher, set up a charity
group named, ‘As we need each other’
with her friend. They
gathered more than
100 members and
collected
money,
clothes and other
items from donors.
They then packed
them up to send to
those in need.
“This task takes
many hours,” says
Anh Tho. “We recognise that some do
not consider charity as serious work.
Sometimes, when we have announced
a the visit to a mountainous area to
help people in cold weather, we have
been given used night dresses and sexy
high heels. Some sent worn clothes
that could not be re-used. It takes hours
to sort such items from the packs and
we are very upset about that. Charity is
not a chance to sweep away old things.”
Admin officer, Bui Huy Kien, has
been running a forum with thousands
of members for years. He says that
they are growing, and are always
more active in the run-up to Tet. “We
have a regular fund for charity, but
many members also raise funds on
their own to support specific cases,”
he says. “ For Kien, charity work is
imprtant in oriental cultures. “Charity
is abotu causality,” he says. “The idea
is simple – do a good thing and you
will get the same in return. It is also
believed to save ‘fu’ (good luck) for the
next generations.”
27
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Justafewyearsago, charitywork inVietnammeant joininglocalauthorities, local redcrossunionsorother
largeorganisations, but today therearehundredsof smaller groupsworking tohelp those inneed,writes
Hong Nhung
society at large
Vietnam has a GDP per capita of just
over $1600 in 2012, lagging far behind
many other countries, but according to
the world giving index (WGI) 2012, Vi-
etnam ranks 70th amongst 146 coun-
tries. The index is based on an average
of three measures of giving behaviour:
the percentage of people who donate
money to charity, volunteer their time,
and help a stranger, in a typical month.
A giving culture